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Melody and Marcia, Chesterfield Royal Hospital's new dementia assessment nurses

Chesterfield Royal Hospital has appointed two dementia assessment nurses. They will assess everyone over the age of 75 admitted in an emergency to see if they have signs of dementia. The hospital hopes that this will ensure that people who need it get early access to support.

There are currently 800,000 people with dementia in the UK, including more than 17,000 younger people, with 60,000 deaths directly attributable to dementia per year. Only 43% of people with dementia in the UK receive a diagnosis.

Almost all the wards that were closed to visitors after an outbreak of Norovirus at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, will re-open tomorrow. With the exception of the Pearson Ward which still has cases of the bug, all wards will be open for visitors from 2.30pm - 4.30pm and 6.30pm - 8.00pm.

This has been a very difficult situation and the decision to close to visitors was one of the hardest we have ever had to take. As Norovirus is not a hospital acquired infection and spreads through person to person contact, the best way to contain it was to reduce the flow of people to essential personnel only.

– Chief Nurse Alfonzo Tramontano, Chesterfield Royal Hospital

The trust is running a Facebook Poll for visitors to have their say on the measures that are in place.

Chesterfield Royal hospital has had to close after an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug Norovirus. Currently eight wards have been affected. Many patients and staff have contracted the illness. This is the second outbreak of the disease at the hospital in as many months.